News Picks:

Water Footprint: Find out how much water some of your favorite products use! Did you know that the “Global Water Footprint” for a single apple is about 18 and a half gallons of water? Reduce *your* Water Footprint with these actions.

Fall is coming, is your garden ready? If you’re a gardening newbie and just planted a garden this summer, here are a couple tips to increase your garden’s longevity. The legendary gardening gurus at Rodale have tips on fall garden cleanup that will have you looking like a pro come spring.

The Happy Planet Index: Nic Marks discuses why we should measure success in terms of happiness in this 16-minute TED Talks video, tracking well-being against the amount of resources we use. Though the U.S. does quite well in terms of well-being, it is one of the countries that also uses the most resources. What country should we emulate? You may be surprised!

Multi-Media Pick:

Cafeteria Man: Chef Tony Geraci is on a mission to make-over Baltimore public schools’ cafeteria food. In this 2.5-minute trailer for the movie “Cafeteria Man,” students complain of “mystery meat” and tons of pizza, pizza, pizza. Geraci plans to swap unhealthy mystery food for local produce.

Get PG points for your healthy food actions!

New and Cool Pick:

DIY mini BBQ for Labor Day Weekend: Recycle a container of Altoids Sours into a mini BBQ. All you need besides the tin are some salvaged computer fan guards and a few nuts and bolts. The kids will marvel at making the little cooker, capable of cooking a full sized hot dog or small hamburger patty. The kids will love to use it for some yummy s’mores too! Don’t forget the organic chocolate.